


A Tight Spot

by Rose_of_Pollux



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (Season 6B)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-18 16:02:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5934388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_of_Pollux/pseuds/Rose_of_Pollux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because Time Lords are absolutely and perfectly dignified in every single situation... right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Tight Spot

Jamie didn’t like the eerie emptiness of the abandoned space station that the Celestial Intervention Agency had sent them to; they had been instructed to investigate after a garbled, seemingly frantic call from the space station.

When he and the Doctor had arrived, however, there hadn’t been a soul in sight.

“What do ye think has happened to them?” Jamie had asked.  “Did they all get captured or…”  He trailed off, forcefully reminded of what had happened on Space Station Chimera.

“I don’t know, Jamie,” the Doctor had said.  “I want you to stay here, close to the TARDIS, while I take a look around.”

“I really think I should go with ye,” the Scot had replied.

“Jamie…” the Gallifreyan had responded, sternly.  “Stay here.”

And Jamie had done as he was told, staying near the TARDIS, waiting for the Doctor to return.

A couple of hours had gone by now, and Jamie knew that it wouldn’t have taken that long to do a quick sweep of the space station.  He now decided to disregard the Doctor’s instructions; he started to head down the corridor, away from the TARDIS, to look for him.

“ _Jamie_!  I thought I told you not to wander off.”

The Scot leaped a foot into the air as he heard the Doctor chide him.  He couldn’t see where the Time Lord was; he was nowhere in the corridor.

“Where are ye!?” he asked.

“Turn around.”

“Eh…?”

Jamie did look around, but still couldn’t see him.

“Over here, Jamie—look at the wall!”

Jamie blinked, now finally seeing the ventilation grate on the wall.  Behind it, he could see the Doctor waving to him.  He arched an eyebrow for a moment, and then removed the grate so that he could see him better.

“What are ye doing in there?” he asked.

“Er, well…” the Doctor said, clearing his throat.  “I seemed to have left my sonic screwdriver in the TARDIS, and… I walked into a room with a self-locking door.  ….Don’t look at me like that; it could’ve happened to anyone!”

“Aye, if you say so…” Jamie said, rolling his eyes.  “But did ye find oot anything about what happened to the scientists?”

“Yes, I did!” the Doctor said, pleased.  “They left a ledger for anyone who came by—their experiment had been declared an unqualified success, and they were called home!”

“…But that frantic, garbled call…?”

“It was the scientists having a rather rowdy celebration—they found it necessary to use as much of their food and drink stores before going…  And they had a bit too much to drink.  The bottles are still in some of the rooms.”

“So, we were sent here for absolutely nothing?” Jamie asked, exasperated.

“Now, really, Jamie; nobody is perfect—not even the Time Lords.”

“ _Especially_ nae the Time Lords…” Jamie muttered.

“I would think that you would be pleased!” the Doctor exclaimed.  “We’ve got nothing to worry about—and they did have to leave some drinks behind…”

He held out a bottle of Chardonnay that he had found.

“There’s food, too,” he added, as Jamie took the bottle with interest.  “But it’s mostly the standard dehydrated stuff—you’re not too fond of that, are you?”

“This is good enough,” Jamie said, admiring the bottle.  “Aye; let’s be off, then.  Maybe we can travel for a bit before we’re summoned back to Gallifrey…”

He headed back towards the TARDIS, but paused as he realized that the Doctor wasn’t following him.

“Doctor?”

“Yes?”

“Are ye waiting for something?”

“No…  No, I’m not waiting for anything…”

Jamie stared at him for a moment; the Doctor still stayed where he was, inside the ventilator shaft.

“Then shouldn’t we leave?“ Jamie asked  "There’s nothing here, as you said…”

“That’s right; there is nothing here.”

He still didn’t move.

“Doctor…” Jamie said, putting two and two together.  “…Are ye stuck?”

“I am _not_ stuck!” the Time Lord insisted, indignantly.  “It’s just that this ventilator shaft narrows right here at the end, and I seem to have found it a bit difficult in regards to extricating myself from it!”

“Oh, aye,” Jamie said, turning to go.  “I’ll just wait for ye in the TARDIS then…”

“ _Jamie_!” the Doctor howled.  He could feel his face flushing as the Scot turned back to face him with a smug expression on his face.  The Time Lord muttered something under his breath.

“I di’n quite hear ye; did ye say something?”

“…I’m stuck…”

Jamie smirked, placing the Chardonnay bottle down and walking over to him.

“Aye; what seems to be the trouble?”

“Well, it’s my shoulders… they’re a touch broader than what the ventilator shaft will allow…  If you could just get my shoulders to line up with the diagonal…”

Jamie suppressed a laugh as he placed his hands under the Doctor’s arms, doing as he was told.

“Ye’re properly aligned now,” he said.  “I’ll just head back to the TARDIS and wait…”

“ _Jamie_ …”

The Scot knew that it would be cruel to laugh, so he refrained from doing so—even though it really was difficult not to upon seeing the look on the Doctor’s face.

“When I was a lad, we had a dog that made a face like that whenever he got into trouble,” he said, keeping his voice steady.  “Och, I just now realized how much I miss that dog…”

“Can you _please_ reminisce about your childhood pet some other time!?  And kindly refrain from comparing me to a canine!”

Jamie fought to keep his face expressionless as he placed his hands back under the Doctor’s arms and attempted to pull him out.

“Doctor,” Jamie said, after a moment.  “I should let ye know that I’ve been observing some changes in ye recently; ye’ve been eating a whole lot more e’er since ye turned back from an Androgum…  Not like a glutton or anything, but ye used to eat a whole lot less before that happened…”

“What are you trying to say…?” the Doctor asked, through gritted teeth.

“…I donnae think yer shoulders are the problem here.”

The Doctor’s retort was in Gallifreyan, which Jamie didn’t understand at all, but got the gist of all the same.

“Well, if ye’re _that_ upset with me…”  He let go of the Doctor.

“ _No_ …!”

“I di’n think so…” Jamie mused, holding onto him again.  “Aye; I’ll try again.”

The Doctor winced, his face red as Jamie attempted once more to pull him free from the ventilator shaft.  Eventually, the Scot braced himself with both of his feet against the wall to gain as much leverage as possible until…

With a yelp, the Doctor suddenly was freed from the ventilator shaft; with his feet on the wall, Jamie was sent flying along with him as they tumbled into the opposite wall of the corridor.

“Oh, my giddy aunt…” the Doctor muttered; his mouth was turned down into a deep grimace.

Jamie shook off the crash, as well, and glanced at the Doctor.  The expression on the Gallifreyan’s face was too much for the Scot; Jamie burst out laughing, leaning against the Doctor for support.

The Doctor gave the piper another indignant look as he continued to lean against him.  But, slowly, the frown on the Doctor’s face vanished and was replaced by a trace of a smile.  Then, as Jamie continued to laugh, the Doctor found himself laughing, as well, despite himself.

And the halls of the old space station were soon filled with the sound of laughter of the Scot and the Gallifreyan, cackling like a pair of hyenas.


End file.
